art is for the community what dream is for the individual (thomas mann) copyright©kitonb
TRANSCRIPT
Art is for the community what dream is for the individual(Thomas Mann)
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The Concept
The Tree of Life (L’albero della Vita) is a monumental sculpture of light and movement; a cry of freedom launched towards the sky, an icon of a rediscovered harmony with nature… a hymn to life.
At night the power of light, the archetype of all sources of life, explodes into a new vision; animated by its own grand geometry, its force checked only by its environment, it dominates the surrounding buildings. It is visible from miles around, evoking an undreamed-of urban landscape.
The Result
The Tree of Life arose from the desire to create a work of art of great visual and emotional impact, a work capable of sparking the desire for shared universal values.
The Tree of Life, a temporary installation of environmental art realised with ecologically sustainable technology, is rich in refreshing characteristics, and offers its host city a celebratory and cultural event of national and international media interest, capable of attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to the site over a period of between 20 and 30 days.
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Artistic Content
Light, the archetype of all sources of life in every culture, is intangible but present; from Aristotle to Genesis, from Galileo to Newton, from physics to literature, light inspires the most profound collective imagination.
Light traces the shape of a tree, the living organism par excellence, rising towards the top in a seemingly infinite ascent where white, the synthesis of all the colours, transforms each segment into energy vectors illuminating space.
The monumental sculpture of white light, with its imposing 60 metre height, stimulates its environment and is visible from miles around, altering the urban landscape with its enormous bulks, vast empty spaces, directional lines, masses of light, dimensional contrasts and optical illusions.
The work promises the spectator a memorable, powerful and involving experience, the psycho-sensorial sensations continually varying depending on view, distance, angle of approach, and atmospheric conditions. The work is at the same time striking and contemplative.
In spite of the complexity that the design and realisation call for, one of the strengths of the Tree of Life lies in its linear simplicity. From some points of view it is a minimalist work, from others macroscopic. It speaks a universal language capable of astonishing thousands of people; making them dream but also encouraging them to reflect.
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Site
The Tree of Life was created to be installed in an important city square, an internationally known prestigious location, a large area reserved for pedestrians that will allow a significant stream of visitors to appreciate the presence of the work from beyond the square itself along the streets leading into it.
Design details and principal technical characteristics
The Tree of Life is an illuminated sculpture designed and built using the most innovative technologies in low consumption materials. It switches itself on at dusk and switches itself off at sunrise for the entire period in which it is on display.
The lighting of the Tree of Life is an extremely spectacular event, with the single lines of luminous fibre creating a dance of light synchronised with music, a dance that builds progressively towards the total illumination of the entire structure. The lighting sequence, which lasts around three minutes, can be repeated at regular intervals.
The Tree of Life, if not obstructed, can be seen at night from any point in the city - from dozens of kilometres away and from planes flying overhead - creating evocative images of the city skyline. Visitors will be able to pass through the inside of the base of the structure to fully appreciate the fascination of the immense luminous volume of 9,000 m³ that hangs over their heads.
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The Tree of Life rests on a specially designed load-bearing structure, a modular 60 metre high tower that sits directly on the surface of the square with an independent base stabilized by prefabricated blocks of cement positioned in such a way as to avoid damaging the surface of the square. The tower supports a tensostructure that is wrapped around it, based on three principal steel rings (with respective diameters of 24m, 5m and 17m) connected to each other by 2,500 metres of steel cable divided into 16 different principal converging lines.
The entire structure is covered with 5 kilometres of luminous fibre composed of around half a million white led diodes that generate powerful luminous strips, characterised by an elevated directionality and very low consumption. Estimated total absorption is actually around 25 Kw/h, the equivalent of the average consumption of 3 shops.Realised with cutting edge technology, the Tree of Life is ecologically compatible, doesn’t pollute and doesn’t contribute to universal light pollution.
The similar characteristics of the Luxometro, Angelo Bonello’s previous light sculpture (Rome 2006), were commended by the “Caterpillar” radio show during “M’illumino di meno” (“Less illumination for me”), Italy’s national day of energy saving awareness.
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Effect on the area
On the day of the lighting of the tree the city will become aware of something new: the work will provoke a grand media echo and a significant influx of the public. Passing by in a car, face pressed against the window, or walking past, the great Tree will suddenly appear; people will be astonished and their curiosity piqued, they’ll call their friends, they’ll be moved to come and see it for themselves, and word-of-mouth will build until the entire population of the city know about the work.
When exhibited for a period of 20-30 days all the residents of the city will have heard about the work, and the greater part of them, together with thousands of tourists, will have visited it at least once. We predict a significant effect on the area to the benefit of the local authorities, the sponsors, all the partners that will have supported the project, and any promotional, commercial and cultural activities in the area.
Projects using similar dynamics in the past have obtained results significantly superior to those predicted: for example, Cristo Javacheff’s “wrapping” of the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995, which received 5 million visitors in 14 days, or Angelo Bonello’s aforementioned Luxometro realised on Rome’s enormous gasometer in September 2006. Luxometro attracted over 2 million spectators over the 9 days it was lit, became the lead story in the principal national television news programs and inspired hundreds of articles in national magazines and newspapers.
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Promotion
Our promotional activities are aimed at promoting the work itself, the local authorities, the sponsors, the creators and the partners with the target of encouraging and defining public participation.
Our efforts will be principally concentrated on the use of media that best understands how to highlight the initiative, sustaining and supporting it at a local, national and international level.
The press office will provide significant promotional support, developing external communications reports and contacts including:- Press releases to major national and international newspapers and magazines;- Press releases to the principal agencies;- Press releases to the principal national and international television and radio news programs;- Invitations sent to the most important local and international contemporary art critics;- Direct involvement with some of the principal national radio and television programs;- Realisation of an Internet site about the project describing its various phases;- Activation of a link on the hosting local authority website allowing users to follow the project in real time through a web cam;- Press conference in collaboration with sponsors;- Production of audiovisual material and a collection of photographs detailing the event from the design stage through to realisation.
Advertising will use radio, television and press announcements offered by ‘media sponsors’. The initiative will be further promoted by targeted distribution of leaflets and brochures, intelligent use of the Internet and direct marketing newsletters.
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